Fire-escape.



PATBNTED MAY 8, 1906 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1905.

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FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1905.

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No. 819,956. PATENTED MAY 8, 1906. H. A. THOMSEN.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT @FFTCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 1906.

Application filed November 6, 1905- Serial No. 286.109.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGO A. THoMsEN, a citizen of the United States, residin in the borough of Madison, in the county 0 Morris and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Escapes and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inventionysuch as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to fire-escapes; and one of the principal objects of the same is to provide means for inclosing and protecting a folded ladder within a box or casing at a point between the windows of a building and im- ,mediately above the upper windows and to provide means whereby occupants upon any of the floors may open the box or casing and permit the ladder to extend to the ground and become accessible to ersons upon an of the floors at opposite sides of the ladder from the adjacent windows.

Another objct is to provide a fire-escape which can be made instantly available by any occupant of any floor of the building and whichmay be used by persons from any of it lhe floors and from two windows upon each oor.

These and other objects are attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawin s, in which Figure 1 is a front e evation of a building, showing my improved fire-escape applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken through the box or casing for containing the extensible ladder. Fig. 3 is a,plan View of the hinged bottom of the box or casing. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the catch-plate on the front wall of the box or casing. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the means for releasing the extensible ladder from any of the floors of a building, and Fig. 6 is a front view showing the manner of securing the ladder within the casing.

Referring to the drawings for a more particular description of my invention, the numeral 1 designates a box or casing, which is preferably made of sheet metal of the required thickness and which is designed to be secured to a building by means of eyebolts 2, said eyebolts passing through openings 3 3 in the rear portion of the box or casing and through the front wall of the building. A rod or bar 4 passes through the eyes of the bolts, and supported upon said rod or bar is a flexible folding ladder 6, adapted to rest upon the bottom 7 of the box or casing, saidbottom being hinged, as at 8, to the rear portion of the casing. A spring bolt or catch 9 is mounted to slide within a casing 11, secured at the under side and in front of the bottom 7,

said bolt normally engaging a catch-plate 12,-

connection leading back and over a pulley 15, secured under the bottom 7 at a point near the wall of the building. A chain 16, preferably made up of wire links 17, connected together by eyes 18, is attached to the chain or flexible connection a, said link chain extending down in close proximity to the wall of the building, and at suitable intervals a cord or chain 19 is connected to said link chain and extends through a tube 20, passed through the wall of the buildin at a point near the window-casing upon each floor of the building. Upon the end of said cord or chain is a handhold 21.

The operation of my invention may be readily understood from the foregoing. When an occupant of one of the floors desires to render the fire-escape available, he grasps the handhold 21 and pulls upon the same to release the bolts from the catch and permit the ladder to extend to the ground. This ladder being made of several sections extends nearly the entire distance between the windows of the building and being flexible can be readily drawn toward one window or another in order to facilitate the mounting of the same.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that my invention is of a comparatively simple character, is normally housed and protected from the weather, and can be rendered in stantly available for use by any person without skilled knowledge of this character of invention, and is strong, durable, and efficient in construction.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a fire-escape, a box or casing secured to the wall of a building by means of eyebolts, a

rod or bar connecting said eyebolts, a flexible ladder connected at one end within the easing, a bottom hinged to said box or casing and adapted to support the folded ladder, a spring-bolt secured to said bottom, a keeper for the bolt on the front of said box, a flexible connection attached to said bolt, a pulley around which said flexible connection passes, a link chain attached to said flexible connection, chains connected to said link chain and passing through the wall of a building and provided with handles, whereby occupants of HUGO A. THOMSEN.

lVitnesses:

W. GEO. RICARD, RICHARD KRUEGER. 

